Subhas Chandra Pattanayak
Conscious of how brutally Ram Singh Munda was tortured by administration, I am not going to say where I found the parrot I am going to write about. But Mother Nature is so majestic that all of us – her children – ought to know how her magnificence manifests.
Around two weeks ago, Mancheswar area of Bhubaneswar got a sudden lash of ‘Kala Baishakhi’ (fierce flow of air often accompanied with thunder storm in last phase of summer, particularly in Orissa) that also dragged down the season’s first pre-monsoon downpour from the sky. A family was enjoying it from the comforts of a specious first floor balcony when a surge of rain-drenched wind threw thereto a bunch of green, which was making some shrilling sound. Full of curiosity, as the house lady inspected it, to her utmost surprise, she found that it was a green-feathered bird, a tender-aged parrot. Drenched thoroughly, it was trembling. The lady instantly took it into the adjoining dining hall and keeping it on her lap, covered it with worm cloths, and tried to comfort it just like she should have done to her child in similar situation.
The young parrot stayed on her lap for about an hour and revived. Then it came out of the cloth cover and jumped up to the dining table and sitting there, looked at the face of the lady as if in gratitude. The kind lady offered her fruits. But it did not accept. The family had never imagined that such a day should come when such a feathered guest would be entertained in the house. They had no cage to keep the parrot. It was already night and it would be merciless to leave it to the mercy of the inclement weather outside. So the house lady put it between pillows on her bed with the equally kind husband offering happy accommodation. But, a few minutes later, it slowly moved into her lap and spent there the entire night.
The stormy night gave birth to a bright sun. Birds flied on the sky. The family, absolutely unaccustomed with bird keeping, put the parrot on the balcony railings, so that it may fly away. But it refused to go. Rather, from the balcony railings, it jumped to the shoulder of the lady and again into the house and its body language convinced everybody that it doesn’t want to leave the house. A slice of mango was offered to it and to the family’s utmost pleasure; it happily ate the entire slice.
My sonly Pabitra Mohan Maharatha came to me day before yesterday to explore if I can suggest which department of the Veterinary Medical College Hospital should be consulted for a parrot. A parrot? I put the question, As I know he has not pet any parrot. He told me details that I have reduced to writing above and informed me the family is immensely worried as one of its legs is a bit swelling. I contacted a veterinary doctor who is very close to me and with him, we drove to the house which the bird has adopted as its own.
I found everybody in this remarkably humane house genuinely concerned for the parrot. As we occupied our seats, the house lady called the parrot with a lovely name she has given it and the response was immediate. It mounted the central table and cooperated with the doctor and sat there inspecting all of us.
It had a very minor injury in the leg, which, perhaps the ‘Kala Baisakhi’ had given. Medicines were prescribed as I am writing this report, I am told that the swelling as almost gone and it is flying out to the nearby trees when its foster mother is in the balcony; but the moment she enters into the room, it is flying in instantly and following her wherever she goes.
The lady of such humane nature is like a daughter to me and the entire family is so very close. I should have proudly disclosed her identity. But the government is so swollen headed and the law is so blind that, this unique bond between her and the stray parrot may not be read rightly by any in administration. The mistreatment given to Ram Singh Munda is fresh in my mind.
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